Chess is a game that requires a lot of thinking, planning, and strategy. Once you learn how
to play the game, it can be an incredibly fun and challenging hobby. As you continue to play
more and more chess, there is no doubt that you want to build up and improve your skills.
While practicing and playing against new people is great, there are various other ways that
you can become better at this beautiful game, many of which you may not expect. With that
in mind, here are some unusual (but still high-quality) ways that you can improve your chess
skills.
Do Your Homework
While playing a lot is important if you want to improve, you also need to do your homework. You should learn as much as you can about the game, including knowing the rules, common strategies, how to get out of certain situations, and more.
Even players who play often could benefit from refreshing themselves on things like the piece movements and special rules to ensure they are always on top of their game. Just like you may check out guides for FPS games, there are also online guides to help you improve at chess, which you should take advantage of.
Also, watching high-quality players play and taking note of what they are doing in different situations can also help you see and identify plays or strategies that you might have missed.
Take Time to Review Both Your Wins and Losses
Taking time to review and analyze your games is another incredibly underrated way to improve. This analysis will often show you your strengths and weaknesses, and what parts of your game you need to focus on to win more games. By reviewing games frequently, you can also notice common mistakes you make, and the moves you made that end up costing you a winnable game.
You need to do this for not only losses but also wins. You can identify potential opportunities you missed during the game, see patterns in your play, and it can generally help you be a better player. This analysis can be a quick 1-minute review before jumping into your next game, or you can spend time going through each and every turn if you feel like getting that in-depth with the analysis.
Analyze the Endgame
While the beginning and middle of a chess game are important, whether you win or lose often comes down to how the endgame is played. The better you are able to navigate the endgame and make the right moves at the right time, the more games you will win.
Take time to learn about the various endgames in chess and how to best employ different strategies at different times. The endgame is often more hectic and you may not have a ton of time, so preparing ahead of time for this stressful part of the game can ensure it goes smoothly for you.
We hope that this article has been able to highlight some unique and unusual ways to improve your chess skills.
